EXPERIENCE
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A deeper look at
Lake Miltona’s muskies
Addition of PIT tags provides endless potential data for fisheries staff By Eric Morken Alexandria Echo Press MILTONA, MINN. — Anglers and game and fish departments are always eager to learn more about one of the more talked about predator fish species in freshwater lakes, and a recent two-year study on Lake Miltona continues to shed light on how muskies are living in this popular fishery. Staff members of the Glenwood DNR fisheries department sampled a total of 257 muskies on Lake Miltona. Through the twoyear study, the staff was able to more accurately estimate that there are roughly 757 adult muskies (30-inches or longer) within the lake. That number and the data collected helps the department better explain the health of muskies in Miltona to anglers, and also has the potential to guide management decisions in the future.
More accurate sampling methods
Prior sampling methods on muskies made it difficult to get an accurate population estimate. The DNR typically used large-frame trap nets to catch the fish. A total of 15 of the nets were placed in muskie waters that extended 100 feet from
LAKE MILTONA MUSKIES PODCAST Listen to the full interview with Glenwood DNR fisheries specialist Nick Rydell by going to the Echo Press Minute Podcast and clicking on the episode title “DNR Fisheries Specialist Talks Muskie Population Study in Lake Miltona.”
shore over the course of 10 days. Those nets were checked every day. Based on how many fish were caught, the DNR used a metric called catch-per-effort (CPE) that often fluctuated dramatically. The problem with using the nets along the shoreline stems from how muskies react to unpredictable spring weather shifts in Minnesota. The timing of the sampling was done when muskies typically spawn with water temperatures in the low-tomid 50 degrees. “What ends up happening is they might come up in the shallows and a cold front or storm front comes in and pushes those fish back out,” Glenwood DNR fisheries specialist Nick Rydell said. “They’re not vulnerable to a net that’s only 100 feet from the shoreline. That CPE method for muskies was really variable, and a lot of the variability was probably not because the muskie population was changing. It was weather patterns in the spring. Our CPE metric
Contributed photo
Glenwood DNR fisheries specialist Nick Rydell with a 52.4-inch muskie sampled from Lake Miltona in 2021. All 257 muskies sampled by the Glenwood DNR staff in 2019 and 2021 had PIT tags placed in them to help the DNR collect data from those fish in the future. would be anywhere from .08 muskies per trap net up to .68. Some years it would be half or double what it was four years before. That’s not a very good metric. It wasn’t working very well.” The use of electrofishing in this recent sampling effort proved to be more labor intensive, but it also led to a more accurate picture of the fish in the lake. Electrofishing is a common practice used by departments to sample multiple species of
fish where an electric current in the water temporarily immobilizes the fish. “It doesn’t hurt them,” Rydell said. “As soon as we pull them out of the current, they’re swimming again. However, because muskies have a really long lateral line, they can actually feel that electric current a long ways off before it would actually affect them. They’ll end up taking off before you even get close to them if you have the electricity on. We came up
with a method at our office that has been really effective where it’s closer to like a spot and stalk method.” With the electrofishing done at night, a netter at the front of the boat spots the muskie with the use of a spot light. They then direct the driver of the boat close to the fish before the electric current is turned on to immobilize the muskie and get it in the boat.
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Evansville’s Mike New finds success, satisfaction as ultramarathoner By Sam Stuve Alexandria Echo Press Evansville’s Mike New would prefer to be outdoors in many of his pursuits, and that passion for the outdoors and fitness have collided in recent years where he is finding success as an ultramarathoner. On April 8, 2022, New raced 50 miles in the night race at Zumbro Falls and finished first out of 650 entrants. He finished the race in nine hours and 28 minutes. New’s goal this past summer was to race in the Leadville Trail 100 Run presented by La Sportiva on Aug. 19, 2022, in the Colorado Rockies beginning at 12:01 a.m. He took on the 50-mile race at Zumbro Falls as a training run. “I figured I should probably do 50 miles before I do 100 miles,” New said. “Two weeks before, my buddy said we should run a 50
and see what it’s like to get an idea. So we went down and just by chance I won it. I ended up winning that, but then from there, we already signed up for Leadville. So I was like, ‘Well, here we go. Let’s see what happens.’” The course for the Leadville Trail 100 fluctuates from elevations of 9,200 to 12,600 feet. Out of 700 participants on Aug. 19, New was one of 368 to finish the race and did so in 24 hours, 42 minutes, 9 seconds. “Leadville was about 16,000 feet of climbing for the whole race,” New said. “Being from around here, obviously I’m not getting a lot of that elevation. So I spent a few days out at Andes Tower Hills doing the hills out there. I did go out to Colorado and did some climbing out there. I had never done it before. I wanted to see if I could do it and I’ll probably do it again. I
Photos by Sam Stuve / Alexandria Echo Press
Left: Mike New of Evansville poses for a photo at Brophy County Park with his belt buckle that he won by finishing an ultramarathon, the Leadville 100 in Colorado on Aug. 19, 2022, in less than 25 hours. Above: Mike New of Evansville received this belt buckle for finishing the Leadville 100 on Aug. 18, 2022, in less than 25 hours.
just like things that are really hard. I like the work you have to put in for it. It’s gratifying.” For finishing the 100 miles in under 25 hours, New received a custom Leadville belt buckle. His time put him 76th overall among
the 368 finishers, 43rd among the 242 athletes running the race for the first time, and 21st out of 115 men in his 40-49 age bracket. New enjoyed winning a race like the 50-miler at Zumbro Falls, but even after strong
finishes like he has had this summer, his drive to get better keeps him wanting more. “It’s an accomplishment, but I always feel like, ‘Well, could I have gone faster?’” New said. “I just always feel like I’m chasing something. I
never get too content.” New’s focus on ultramarathons is a new one. “It kind of started in the last few years right before COVID hit,” New said. “I had done a marathon before,
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